Selena sips her tea, but doesn't drink much of it. She doesn't really pay that much attention to her companions, and seems rather distracted. She doesn't even really notice Quasit's chatter, just mumbling "mhmm" at the right moments.
She is mulling over the limited info she has, but she also waiting to she what the other people here do. They seem normal so far, but how long till they recognize her, or what she is? Will they assume she is in the wrong camp? What will they do about it? So, most of her attention on the things around her seems to be on the other folks.
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Not really waiting for anyone to take her up on her silly bar bet, Quasit continues tossing nuts in the air and catching them, all the while still jabbering away. Its a small miracle she doesn't choke.
"So Emil, thanks for the hospitality. Honestly, aside from Nadya here, we were beginning to think everyone around here was a little unfriendly. Especially the giant insects. Did you hear about that?"
"No? Wellll...."
Quasit leans back her chair, balancing it on the back two legs, and gathers herself for a bit of tavern tall-tale-telling.
"So here we are, a simple band of Taldan merchants, making our way along the road, when we hear screams of terror coming from nearby. We run over in time to see poor cousin Nadya and her friends being attacked by a giant bug. Emil, if this thing wasn't 10 feet long, I'd eat my hat. Like a giant praying mantis, with big hooky claws as big as me. Well, we couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so we pulled weapons and ran in. My brother Bulvi here led the way of course, he's the experienced fighter. He learned a lot down south in the wars, before he decided to settle down and marry Sakitu here. Isn't she a dish? Honestly, if I were a man, I'd snap her up too. Anyway, the thing grabs him and starts crushing him! So the rest of us jump in and start shooting at it and stabbing it, trying to make it let ol' Bull go. I managed to get in a decent shot right above its shoulder, and the thing drops Bull and goes for me! And let me tell you, it got me. Emil, I felt like a nut in a nutcracker..."
She catches another peanut in her mouth and crunches it theatrically before continuing.
"I was sure I was a goner. I could hear my ribs snapping. Blood everywhere -- I was coughing it up and it was spilling out of me like water out of a sieve. But did we quit? No sir! I stabbed it right it its big buggy eye just as its greedy mandibles were moving in for the death bite, and our guide Fin blasted it with a couple arrows. Selena, did you do anything? I can't remember. She's just traveling with us, you see, hitching a ride home. Anyway, the thing stiffens, shudders, and drops. I tell you what, if that's the find of bugs you haver around here, its no wonder you don't get many merchants."
"Hey, do you know anything about a forlarren named Meirul? She stopped by our campfire last night. She was kinda spooky. Pretty, but like... she's like a person in a dream that you thought was your friend but when you turn around they look different and they begin to eat you. You ever have a dream like that? Anyway, I just wondered if you knew her."
Bulvi looks over at Quasit... no one would believe they were blood relations, a Varisian woman like her and an Ulfen man. Quasit was very excited and didn't really think her exaggerations through.
Clearing his throat Bulvi adds "She is adopted. She's not as good with the cold, so now that you're warming her up you have to accept she'll be getting talkative again."
He smiles at Sakitu "I'm glad you are enjoying the tea... honey?"
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The lady returns with 4 plates of food and sets them upon the table. She looks at Quasit and speaks "I apologize, but our ale seems to have not been replenished yet, but please eat, me and my husband would like to hear of why you have traveled as such to come here, we dont get travelers much at all anymore."
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Sakitu sits back, relaxing with her cup of tea, half listening to Quasit's rambling. Until she here's her name mentioned. She somehow manages to suppress a giggle when Quasit mentions that she's married to Bulvi.
She smiles back at Bulvi. "Uh. Yeah. It's really good." She pauses for a second. "Just like at home."
At the host's question she looks to Quasit to let her answer.
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Quasit seems puzzled by the announcement that the tavern was out of ale. She hadn't even asked for ale. But how does a tavern run out of ale? Well, maybe that's just the way things are up here. Witches and such.
"Well, what do you have besides tea? I really kinda had my heart set on a brandy. Nothing too fancy. The cheap stuff will be fine. But I'll drink most things in a pinch."
She tucks into the food, then starts talking again immediately with her mouth half full.
"Well, you might say we're passing through on our way to Whitethrone. We're stopping off here to visit Nadya. She's our mother's sister's niece, twice removed. I think. I have a hard time keeping things like that straight. Anyway, this is something of a reconnaissance mission. Very few merchants in our part of the world do business in Irrissen. That means there's probably all sorts of hidden gems, trade-wise. Exotic Irrisseni furs or something. Apparently we can scratch ale off our list of possible imports though. Heh."
"So yeah, we're here to meet people with things to trade, make some friends, check into what sorts of tariffs and licenses would be involved, and if its even allowed. We certainly don't want to upset anyone. But if you don't ask, how can you know, right? We figured it was worth the journey. Hopefully we don't go home empty handed."
Suddenly something seems to occur to her and she turns to Bulvi and punches him in the shoulder. "You promised you wouldn't say anything about the adopted thing to people any more. You know I hate it. You have no idea how embarrassing that is."
She looks back at the innkeeper's wife and rolls her eyes. "Brothers. Am I right?"
She stuffs more food in her mouth. "So why don't you get travelers any more? Did something happen? Aside from giant monster bugs killing people on the roads?"
Selena tries very hard not to face-palm, and she'd be quite amazed if the locals believed her. Quasit must've dealt with gullible southerners too much.
Selena discreetly adds her food to Quasit's plate, in small amounts at a time. She didn't ask for food, didn't need any right now, and was very suspicious of the whole thing.
She's about to take another sip of tea when she sets it then decides to discreetly use detect poison and detect magic, mentally chastising herself for not doing so earlier. with each spell in turn, she not only examines their food and drink, she also looks around the whole tavern.
Bulvi pats Sakitu on her back "Take you time with your tea." Quasit was playing an odd game with them but he only felt he'd make it worse by overly engaging with his sister's scheme.
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As Katrina excuse herself a moment to attend to other patrons.
Selena looks around and doesnt notice any poison but as soon as she starts to look again for magic she hears Emil speak up
Emils voice a little more quieter so only the group can hear "It may be my opinion of you nice folks but I suggest you leave town here, most people wont be welcoming"
Selena finishes the second pass and notices a few of the patrons drinks, Bulvi's birthday and Sakitu's drinks as well as a couple mirrors light up as magical.
Honey Rabbit? Sometimes Sakitu was just plain odd but they'd gone a long way in a short time. "I can't say I'm not too surprised. I don't think we will be staying in town for too long." Likely leaving the place in chaos...
"Worry not. We're just passing through. I am curious about the mirrors though. Never seen a place hang mirrors in the main hall before. Normally it's trophies, or sometimes paintings in the expensive places." she replies to Emil.
Turning to Bulvi, she passes her tea, setting it on his cup, "You can finish my tea if you'd like." as she does so, she winks at him, with the eye Emil can't see.
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Emils voice a little more quieter so only the group can hear "It may be my opinion of you nice folks but I suggest you leave town here, most people wont be welcoming"
Quasit blinks in astonishment at this strange assertion from the innkeeper. Then her face gets sour.
"You know what? Forget the drink. And you can keep your nasty stew too. You drag us down here just so you can tell us to leave your town? Well thanks for the tip. We already noticed everyone around here was rude and untrusting. Hard to miss it. Ass wipe."
She gets up, roughly shoving her chair back, and starts to storm out. But then she decides she hasn't finished.
"Actually, I'm not finished!" she says, pretty much shouting now. "Did I happen to mention the bad day we had yesterday, where we risked our lives to save some members of your miserable stinking little village from a giant bug? I suppose that's why we can't be trusted?"
She comes up to Emil and pokes her finger roughly into his chest.
"Well I'll tell you who can't be trusted! A tavern-keeper that doesn't have any ALE!"
"Quasit!" she continues far more quietly but with all the force of one raised to command others, "Emil here is being nice by giving us warning. This is the north, not your cushy and soft southern lands. If you can't learn how things work up here, you'll find yourself dead in a hurry, and not even a witch could save you, not that many would bother saving you from your own stupidity. So sit down and learn what passes for kindness up here."
Turning to the innkeep, "My companion has not been to the north before and hasn't caught on to thd differences yet." she leaves several gold on thd bar, easily three times the worth of the food and drink.
"Come on. Time to leave while it's still on good terms." and Selena walks out, waiting on those getting up to join her, but not worrying about any that are staying put.
Bulvi pulls the silliest face while trying to hold back the laughter as Quasit rants. By the time Selena came back to the table his face was placid once more.
He calmly gestures at Sakitu and her tea "Honey bunny still has some tea." He looks at Selena and then Quasit before pursing his lips in an attempt to maintain a straight face.
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"Quasit!" she continues far more quietly but with all the force of one raised to command others, "Emil here is being nice by giving us warning. This is the north, not your cushy and soft southern lands. If you can't learn how things work up here, you'll find yourself dead in a hurry, and not even a witch could save you, not that many would bother saving you from your own stupidity. So sit down and learn what passes for kindness up here."
Quasit rolls her eyes then looks back at Selena.
"Look Princess, this gag of you ordering everyone around is getting a little tiresome. I mean, I get it, I was sixteen once too, and I thought all the grown-ups were dumb. But I don't need you to lecture me about how soft and easy my life has been. And this knucklehead and his frowsy wife are not being nice to us. I mean, cripes, she asks me to tell her about ourselves because they never get visitors, then about a minute into the conversation goes wandering off to refill someone's teapot? That's just rude."
She turns back to Emil, just to get in another dig.
"You know, I was all ready to spend lots of money and have a good time tonight. I really was. I'm a friendly person. And what did I get? Glares, warnings and flippin' tea."
"I guess we are leaving." Bulvi stands up and starts heading out with Sakitu, he didn't relish Quasit and Selena's bickering but suspected it would can't up shortly.
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Emil nods his head to his wife a moment as if signaling her
"Quasit is it, bad days happen, and some worse then others, I invited to be friendly and warn you folk and give my suggestion before the soldiers start their rounds of questioning. So if you want to be rude, I would continue shouting so they could hear, draw attention to yourself and by proxy your little family band you have here and become dead or worse. Take friendly advice at face value and LEARN why you might be told that. Now I advise you to leave now" his tone harsh from having to deal with others in a similar manner, but he turns and picks up the coins and hands them back to Selena before heading back to the counter
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Emil nods his head to his wife a moment as if signaling her
"Quasit is it, bad days happen, and some worse then others, I invited to be friendly and warn you folk and give my suggestion before the soldiers start their rounds of questioning. So if you want to be rude, I would continue shouting so they could hear, draw attention to yourself and by proxy your little family band you have here and become dead or worse. Take friendly advice at face value and LEARN why you might be told that. Now I advise you to leave now" his tone harsh from having to deal with others in a similar manner, but he turns and picks up the coins and hands them back to Selena before heading back to the counter
Quasit smirks insolently at Emil as he fires back at her.
"You could have saved yourself the trouble. We already got the idea that we weren't welcome. And for the record, if it's against the law to shout at a grubby innkeeper, then guilty as charged I guess."
"Oh, and my friends call me Quasit. I don't really care what you call me. Creep."
She then flounces out behind Bulvi and Selena, looking very pleased with herself, but suddenly looks around in some confusion.
"Hey, where'd Saki go?" She walks up quickly next to Bulvi. "Hey Honey Rabbit, what happened to your wife? Did I scare her off?"
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Once outside, Quasit speaks more quietly to her companions.
"All right, so that was all a total set-up. Friendly drink, my butt. If those two weren't working for Nadzheda, I'll eat my hat. They just brought us in there so the witch or her fey pals could scry on us through one of those mirrors. They're gonna ambush us tonight, whether we leave town or not. I recommend we find a place we can defend and keep watch tonight."
She pokes Selena, a grin on her face. "Sorry to be a snot to ya. It was all part of the act. I mean, it's always preferable to keep a low profile, but that wasn't an option any more. The whole town already knew we were here and were suspicious about us. I bet half the people who live here are spies or informers. And that forlarren already had the story that we were merchants who were Nadya's cousins, so we had to stick with that story."
She sighs heavily. "If you can't be inconspicuous, I find the next best option is to be boring. And there's nothing more boring than a merchant who won't shut up. I hoped I could just lull the guy into complacency by talking his ear off. But then he had to give us his friendly 'warning'. At that point all I could do was keep playing the part of the callow merchant. Might make them underestimate us."
"Nothing is more suspicious than people being cagey and sneaky. I don't think he saw you casting spells, sweetie, but if anyone else in that place did, you can be sure THAT will get back to Miss Witch. But as long as you did, what did you find out?"
She then flounces out behind Bulvi and Selena, looking very pleased with herself, but suddenly looks around in some confusion.
"Hey, where'd Saki go?" She walks up quickly next to Bulvi. "Hey Honey Rabbit, what happened to your wife? Did I scare her off?"
Bulvi points to Sakitu just a little bit ahead as she moves unhindered by armour. He leans towards Quasit and whispers "Maybe... you might have upset her I'm not sure. Why did you say she was my wife? Didn't you think that might upset her coming from you?"
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Bulvi leans towards Quasit and whispers "Maybe... you might have upset her I'm not sure. Why did you say she was my wife? Didn't you think that might upset her coming from you?"
This seems to surprise Quasit. "No... why would it upset her coming from me?"
"I don't know, I was just trying to come up with plausible reasons why all these women would be traveling with you. And no one is going to believe Saki or me are caravan guards. I mean, I thought she was playing along fine... Honey Rabbit. But she's so sweet and sensitive, she always wants to believe the best in everybody. She probably didn't like me ticking that guy off. But it's not like her to just run off. From now on, none of us should go off on our own anywhere."
Bulvi gently elbows Quasit "No because you two. It's not exactly a secret. I mean Selena probably doesn't know but the rest of us do. Ibona noticed back at the inn."
Bulvi rolls his eyes "That ye are sleeping together, it's your business not mine. It just seemed strange you painted her as my wife in your... blather. Ye were thinking ye were so discrete." He gives a little chuckle before taking another step after Sakitu.
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Quasit's mouth drops open in amazement. "What?! But... but she's a girl! Why would ..."
Then it clicks. She shuts her eyes and exhales deeply. "So that's why Ibona was acting so weird. Oh my gosh, that is TOTALLY not what's going on, believe me. After we fought all the zombies and poor Alexia died I was having trouble sleeping, so I went and slept in Saki's bed. But that's it! We just talked a bit and slept, cause I was freaked out. And I'm sure its the same for Saki. I mean, she's a pal, and she's amazing, but... eww! I like boys, trust me."
Quasit is blushing beet red at this point.
Bulvi lets out a hearty laugh "My lucky day then, traveling with two more single women than I believed." Bulvi waggles his eyebrows at Quasit before looking at Sakitu ahead. "Why's she so annoyed then?"
He calls ahead to Sakitu "Hold up Sakitu, what's going on?"
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Sakitu keeps her eyes set on the road ahead and continues walking. She is vaguely aware of the trail of people following behind her but her primary focus is on leaving town. At Bulvi's call she waves a hand in the air, without turning around or stopping, and beckons him to catch up to her. "I just think it's best for us to leave town now," she calls back to him.
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Bulvi lets out a hearty laugh "My lucky day then, traveling with two more single women than I believed." Bulvi waggles his eyebrows at Quasit before looking at Sakitu ahead.
Quasit is still blushing mightily, and can't help but snort out a laugh at this. "Well, don't get any ideas, Charlie. I could murder Ibona, spreading a rumor like that."
"Why's she so annoyed then?"
Quasit looks off after Sakitu too. "I don't know." she says with quiet concern.
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At Bulvi's call she waves a hand in the air, without turning around or stopping, and beckons him to catch up to her. "I just think it's best for us to leave town now," she calls back to him.
Quasit shares another concerned look with Bulvi, then goes trotting off to catch up with Sakitu.
"Come on Saki, hold on a sec. It's dark out. We aren't gonna hang around here, but where are we going to go tonight? Best to get some rest and leave first thing tomorrow, huh?"
"Hey, are you ok? Did you notice something back at that filthy pub? Maybe we should talk about it. Then if we decide to leave, we can all go together at least. Selena likes to sound dramatic, but I agree that it's not a good idea for any of us to go wandering off alone in the dark here. That's just asking for trouble."
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Sakitu smiles at Quasit when she catches up. "Hello. Glad to see you're coming with me." She keeps striding forward while Quasit talks. "Well, I don't know about it being dark and dangerous. I just know that it's best for me to leave now. It's just something I feel I have to do."
She gets a serious look on her face. "I won't be convinced otherwise. But if you guys," she look over her shoulder at the others trailing her, "think it's too dangerous, you can just catch up with me later. By the way, I noticed the Selena started to leave before I did. Maybe you can check with her to see if she noticed something."
She reaches out to touch Quasit on her arm without breaking stride and a smile crosses her face again. "Really. I'm ok. Happy to have you with me but if you can't stay I understand. I just know that I have to leave."
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Something about the way Sakitu is talking makes a chill go up the girl's spine. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it didn't feel right.
"Sure. OK Saki, if you think it's best." she says, confused and conciliatory. "But maybe we could walk a little slower so the others could catch up? We'll still leave, but you know Bulvi's gotta carry all that armor around. And who knows where Fin got off to. And while we walk here, maybe we can discuss where exactly we're going to go tonight."
Quasit keeps walking beside Sakitu.
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"Yeah, I guess I could slow down a bit. Besides, we wouldn't want to lose Honey Rabbit." Sakitu giggles at the name. "I was quite shocked with your story. I had to think quickly. And well, I like honey and rabbits." Sakitu continues to stride forward at her normal pace.
"What do you mean about where we're going? We're leaving, as you can see."
Selena has been walking beside and listening to Sakitu, then puts two and two together, maybe. "I think Sakitu might be under a spell to leave town. Though I think I agree with the spell on that point. Your drama was very costly Quasit... Sakitu, there isn't a particular place or direction you want to go, is there? We should go to my town, Badelund."
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"Bad land? That's your town's name?" Sakitu wrinkles her nose at that. "Well, no. I don't have any place in particular. I just want to leave town. Your bad land sounds as good as any place." She turns to Quasit. "What do you think?"
By this time Sakitu is well outside of town and is continuing her march. She glances back at Bulvi and Fin and waves at them.
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”I think going to anyplace other than where the winter portal is will only be taking us farther from our objective. Selena, I totally understand if you want to go home, but that’s not why the rest of us are here.”
”And just so we’re clear, if those goons cast a spell on Saki, I think we can agree that they weren’t being nice to us and that nothing we did or said in there made the least bit of differerence in their intentions toward us. We shouldn’t have gone at all.”
"First, why do you consistently group them together as though they have a hive mind or something? Having a few spies for the local witch doesn't mean they all or even most of them wish you harm. And quite frankly, getting us gone this way both avoids trouble for the townsfolk and does so without harming us or even directing into harm's way. We could've left peacefully and perhaps with a bit of quiet and subtle aid that woukd avoid trouble for us and them, but then you go and mouth off like that. Whk there would want to help us, especially with how much of attracting attention there is with you."
Selena sighs, "As far as why everyone is here, do you honestly think you are going to march into some castle, kill a few people and it be the end? We need support. A lot of it. At home, I'll be in a better position to find and aquire that support. I'm a witch. The nobility around here. Working from the gutters is going to take a long time, and given your acting so far, is not likely to succeed up here. You need to change your tactics to match the local culture. I've learned that from hard experience."
Bulvi signs, surprisingly keeping pace now in his armour. "Selena, how far exactly is your village. Unless it's extremely close which since they don't know or care who you are it's likely quite some distance I'm not going to let the world freeze to death while we march off to some other province."
"If you want to a back up isn't a bad idea in case we fail but people are going to die. You've had a broom stuck up somewhere about the cold but guess what other countries aren't used to cold like that. People are going to die. I'm not going to let that body count rise while we hope to line things up perfectly. Also the longer this goes on the longer your glorious leader solidifies her position and launches another round of ruining the world in new and interesting ways." Bulvi raises a hand "Before you retort with some cutting barb remember your country couldn't keep it's s&#$ together and has endangered the world. We're here to help, if you can't appreciate that or work with us then bloody well go find your village."
Bulvi clears his throat, clearly having said more than he intended "Quasit I understand your frustration but the rant at them probably didn't help. But no one here wants to help so lets break this spell on Sakitu and find this tower."
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Quasit listens sullenly through Selena dressing her down, looking a trifle hurt. But when it's over, she just shrugs.
"Well, we can't just go off and leave Nadya alone. We promised to help her. And for better or worse, she's a target now too. And she's still our best bet for local knowledge on how to proceed. At least that's how I see it."
Bulvi clears his throat, clearly having said more than he intended "Quasit I understand your frustration but the rant at them probably didn't help."
Quasit grimaces and rolls her eyes, but then sighs. "Maybe not. But it sure felt good. And I don't feel bad about calling a spade what it is."
"That Emil guy said we should leave town. Then Saki gets up and feels instantly magically compelled to walk out of town. We could have been as sweet and civil and subtle as we wanted, and they still would have tried that horse s!~# with us. Tell me I'm wrong about that."
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Sakitu stops walking and blinks a few times. She looks around to find herself, with her friends, standing on the trail, the town they were in is no where to be seen.
"Uh. Guys. What happened? Where's the inn? And why are we all out here? When did we decide to leave town and why now? At night?"
Quasit looks around at everybody else, as if to confirm with eye contact that everyone got this confirmation of Selena's theory about enchantment. Then she takes Sakitu's hands in her own and blows into them, and says quietly.
"We've been following you. For like the last hour. You refused to stop. What's the last thing you remember?"